Case study. Installing smart meters at Kidbrooke Village

Transcription

1 Case study Installing smart meters at Kidbrooke Village

2 Background information In May 2015, and after consultation with residents, Southern Housing Group installed smart meters on the communal heating system at Lincoln and Gordon House, which is part of Kidbrooke Village in Greenwich. We selected the Secure Meters Liberty connect solution for Kidbrooke Village to be operated by Vital Energi, our communal heating metering and billing contractor for all our developments with smart meters.

3 Why we chose to install smart meters? (1) Smart meters help residents use their energy and water more efficiently by allowing them to: Pay for only the heating and hot water they use, rather than paying a set monthly charge based on the size of their flat. Top up heating credit with the payment method that best suits them: Direct Debit, online, over the phone or in cash at their local shop. Understand how much heating and hot water they re really using and what it s costing them by looking at their in-home display, which in turn can help identify savings on their bills. The in-home display shows clear, simple and real-time information about the household s heating and hot water consumption, including how much heating and hot water have been used in the last day, week, month or year, along with remaining heating credit. Provide a real-time, pay-as-you-go dynamic billing system that avoids difficulties estimated bills or meters create and that can be hard for residents to read.

4 Why we chose to install smart meters? (2) Installing smart meters also benefits the Group by helping us to: Identify and support customers who are having difficulties using or paying for their heating and hot water through our Home Energy Advice Team. Improve our services because we can select the most suitable metering and billing provider rather than entering a long term, and sometimes constraining contract. Demonstrate value for money for our customers.

5 Results After a year we conducted a survey to measure residents satisfaction at Kidbrooke Village, which revealed that: 84% of residents are more conscious of how much money they spend on heating and hot water. 67% of residents are more mindful of how much heating and hot water they use. 3.6/5 overall level of satisfaction with the smart meter. 3.4/5 overall confidence level with using the smart meter. Residents mostly use the smart meter to find out how much credit is left and to see how much heating and hot water they have used.

6 What they say about smart meters Anoop Cheema, one of our residents at Kidbrooke Village: The main feature I use is checking how much credit I have and the usage history checking my daily, weekly and monthly usage the smart meter has been really helpful you know how much you are spending and how much you are using. I wasn t aware of how much energy I was using before, when you pay monthly you don t think bout that kind of thing it has also made me more aware of the environment and how much I use how many baths and showers I have, that kind of thing. I top up online on my Kindle I top up as I go along, which works well for me.

7 What they say about smart meters Sue Green, Regional Operations Manager at Southern Housing Group: Charging a monthly set amount for heating and water bills wasn t popular with residents as they had no control over usage and costs. I m pleased that the new metering and billing system at Lincoln and Gordon House, part of Kidbrooke Village in Greenwich, has been so well received by residents who can now monitor their usage and bills.

8 What they say about smart meters Will Routh, Head of Sustainability at Southern Housing Group: This is the first retrofit of smart meters Southern Housing Group has undertaken. I m glad that both the installation and the first year have gone so well. We ve learnt a number of lessons and will be implementing best practices in future projects; this will help improve the communal heating metering and billing service we provide to our residents.

9 For more information Southern Housing Group